Medical

During PCS. 

Suppose you or your dependents need medical care while en route to the UK, you will be covered under your old TRICARE region.  As such, talk with your local TRICARE representative before executing your PCS to obtain contact numbers and procedures to follow while traveling. 

Enrollment Procedures.  

You can enroll in TOP-R after you have reported to your duty station in the UK.  There are four ways to do this: phone (easiest), email, and snail mail.  Go to www.tricareoverseas.com/top_prime_enrollment.html for contact details, enrollment forms, and benefit guides. 

TRICARE United Kingdom Contact Directory.  

Find the latest directory of important TRICARE contact information at www.tricare-overseas.com/ContactUs/ContactEUR.html. IMPORTANT: You may be charged the full cost of medical care for you or your dependents if you don’t follow the procedures outlined in the TOP-R benefits guides.  To avoid this, and to fully understand how your benefits work overseas, you MUST read and understand the TOP-R benefits guides.  If you have questions after arriving in the UK, please contact the TRICARE command representative. 

Using U.S. Medical Treatment Facilities.  

You can use any MTF at any of the three bases within driving distance, as you are accustomed to in the U.S.  However, while all active-duty service members are Priority I patients at MTFs, for scheduling purposes, these MTFs are not staffed to handle patients outside their catchment areas.  Also, your dependents will be treated as Space A patients at these MTFs, which means getting your dependents an appointment can be complex. 

How TOP-R Works (Routine Medical Appointments).  

Even though you will have a family doctor, ISOS will function as your Primary Care Manager (PCM) in the TOP-R program. (Think of ISOS as the administrators of TRICARE overseas.  You call ISOS to inform them of the medical care you or your dependent needs, and they connect you with an ISOS doctor familiar with UK medicine to help you determine the best course of action.   Once you’ve finished consulting with an ISOS doctor, you’re passed to a counselor, who then authorizes an appointment or treatment.  Authorization for treatment is generated and emailed to you and the doctor you are seeking treatment from.  At that point, you can call the doctor’s office to schedule an appointment.  After your visit, the doctor’s office submits its invoice to ISOS, which then sends you a final statement.  It sounds cumbersome, but the process usually only takes a few minutes. 

International SOS (ISOS).  

We recommend saving the ISOS Appointment Line and the 24/7 Help Line numbers in your phone contacts.  This is how you will coordinate care, whether at home in the UK or while traveling abroad on leave/TAD.  In addition, country-specific ISOS contact information is available on their website at www.tricare-overseas.com/ContactUs/default.htm.  Alternatively, you install the MyCare Overseas app on your phone.  It is the ISOS app.  It has all the applicable numbers and retrieves your referrals.   

Emergency Care Procedures.  

If you have a medical emergency, the first thing to do is call 999 – the UK equivalent of 911 in the U.S. You may also dial 112, the EU-wide emergency number.  Depending on where you live or where you are, it can take time to get an ambulance (if required).  Emergency rooms are called Accident and Emergency centers (or A&E); not all hospitals have them.  Once in your permanent home, it is a good idea to become familiar with the nearest A&E-equipped medical facility.  The priority is to care for the person in need of emergency medical care.  However, as soon as possible, you must inform ISOS at 02087628-133 so they can start the insurance process. 

Dental Care.  

TOP-PR covers active duty service members in the London area. Family members are covered by the TRICARE Dental Program OCONUS/MetLife. 

a. Active Duty Service member care via Civilian Provider.  Dental care for service members is obtained via ISOS in the same fashion as medical care.  Although there are different options, Moor Park Dental is the ISOS-designated care facility for active-duty service members and routinely serves family members as well.  Contact Number:  +44 01923823504   Email:  info@moorparkdental.com 

b. Active Duty Family Member care via Civilian Provider.  It is highly recommended that you call United Concordia TRICARE Dental Program (OCONUS) at +1-844-653-4060 to schedule a consultation before scheduling any civilian dental care.  This is to ensure the treatment is covered and to provide counseling on how to file the claim afterwards.  Determining which dental procedures are covered and which are not can be tricky, so this is for your protection.  To enroll in the program, visit https://www.tricare.mil/CoveredServices/Dental/TDP.  

To find a participating dentist, go to https://www.uccitdp.com. You will have to enter your personal information to gain access. Once on the landing page, click the “find a dentist” link, select the United Kingdom as the country, and it will bring up a listing of UK dentists. Once registered, family members may obtain civilian dental care at their preferred location; however, reimbursement for treatment is obtained through a claim.  Besides Moor Park Dental, other providers with good reviews are Swiss Smiles (downtown London), Maida Smiles (Maida Vale, Central London), and Toothbeary (Richmond). 

c. MTF Dental Care.  Service members and their families are recommended to use local civilian dental care options. Still, many personnel make dental appointments at RAF Croughton or RAF Lakenheath (contact numbers in Annex C).  To save time and money, try to get you and your dependents in on the same day with consecutive appointments.  This often requires calling on the first working day of a new month.  Remember, although you are given the same priority as someone stationed at one of these bases, your dependents are Space-A. Success will depend on how busy the dental office is. 

Using the UK National Health Service (NHS).  All residents in the UK are entitled to free healthcare through the NHS. Once you have a local address, register with a local GP (doctor’s office) for you and your family. There is no fee to enroll, and no NHS premiums – treatment at NHS facilities is free at the point of use. (Note: Dependents on official visas are usually exempt from the NHS surcharge that other visa holders pay, due to our SOFA status.) Using the NHS won’t affect your Tricare benefits – you can still seek care via International SOS/private providers when needed, but having a GP means you have easy access to routine care, prescriptions, and specialist referrals within the NHS system. This is especially important for urgent needs and any long-term stay. Make sure to ask your sponsor or clinic about how to sign up with a GP soon after arrival. Before your PCS, go to www.nhs.uk and learn more about the benefits available to you and your dependents as an NHS member.  An added benefit of enrollment is access to the 24-hour NHS medical advice hotline, which can be reached by calling 111. 

Having a baby.  Whether you are expecting when you arrive, or get pregnant while here, see your general practitioner (GP) first for referral to an OB.  Then you have the option of using Tricare, seeing a private OB, and delivering in a private hospital, or using the UK’s NHS and delivering at an NHS public hospital, or even delivering at home. 

Miss Julie Price is a private OB whom many Americans have used.  She practices at The Portland Hospital (www.theportlandhospital.com), downtown London, near Great Portland Street.  TRICARE is familiar with her practice, so after the initial consultation, her office usually handles the paperwork with TRICARE.  Her telephone number is 020 7390 8272. 

If you have a baby boy and elect circumcision, tell your OB and the hospital once you go into delivery. Circumcisions are not common here, but private hospitals like The Portland will arrange it after delivery and before you are discharged.  You can also call the Air Force hospital at RAF Lakenheath about a circumcision. 

Once the baby is born, one of the parents must first apply for a British birth certificate within the first 42 days of life.  The U.S. considers this birth certificate to be “official/legal”. Only one parent needs to register the birth; the baby does not need to go.  Call the registrar’s office in the city where the baby was born to schedule an appointment, which usually takes a few weeks.  For The Portland Hospital, this is the Westminster Birth Office.  You will get the birth certificate that day, and can buy as many copies as you like.  Once you have the UK birth certificate, make an appointment with the London U.S. Embassy to obtain the U.S. birth certificate, passport, and Social Security number.  It is best to make this appointment online, and it usually doesn’t take long.  For this, both parents and the baby need to go.  You will also need a passport picture and check to make sure they accept credit cards.  They will require proof of parents’ citizenship; bring birth certificates and a marriage certificate.   

The passport and U.S. birth abroad certificate will come together in a few weeks via a delivery service to your door.  The Social Security number will arrive approximately 5 weeks later in your APO box.  The service member should then register the baby through DEERS at Blenheim Crescent using the British birth certificate.  Contact Mr. Jason Lawrance at Jason.Lawrance2.LN@mail.mil for further information on birth abroad requirements. 

To get a no-fee passport for your newborn, you have to schedule an additional appointment at the London Embassy.  You will need passport pictures, but no payment is required.  Call or email the Embassy to arrange this appointment; it cannot be done online.  Once the no-fee passport arrives, the Embassy will notify you, and you will have to pick it up there.  Please get in touch with Mr. Jason Lawrance at Jason.Lawrance2.LN@mail.mil for further information.